Discrimination and equity page 14 of 88

The FWC has ordered a worker's reinstatement and criticised his employer for its "severely flawed" dismissal process after it used a traffic violation as a "golden opportunity" to dismiss him for riling management by engaging in "covert" and "unlawful" industrial action.

Unions have welcomed recommendations in a government-commissioned review of safety regulations addressing s-xual assault and harassment in WA's mining industry, but have expressed dismay at evidence that employers are deliberately failing to report incidents to regulators.

Senior FWC member shifts to court; Respect@Work Act receives Royal Assent; Labor to scrap AAT; and FWC changes Annual Wage Review timetable, revises refund policy.

ILO harassment treaty inquiry deadline looming; Pandemic provision to be axed; Ratify child labour convention, ACTU urges; and Westpac deal overcomes reasonable hours concerns.

The gender pay gap is stuck at 22.8%, while more than 40% of employers that analysed the disparity between men's and women's pay in their workplaces over the past year took no action, according to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency's latest scorecard.

The Secure Jobs, Better Pay Act has received Royal Assent, stamping out pay secrecy clauses in new employment contracts, paring back MSD requirements and making it harder for employers to terminate agreements during bargaining, while the ABCC has entered a transition period ahead of its abolition.

Newly-published guidance seeks to bust myths about AI-assisted technologies, emphasising that employers who use it remain accountable for their actions.

The Human Rights Commission's latest survey of workplace sexual harassment shows little change in incidence over the past four years, while only two-thirds of workers reported their employer had anti-harassment policies and just one third had received training, Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins told the National Press Club yesterday in a speech that also marked the first anniversary of her "Set the Standard" report on federal parliamentary workplaces.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has highlighted the positive duty imposed on employers to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sex discrimination, sexual harassment and victimisation under its Respect@Work legislation, which passed Parliament this afternoon.

The Albanese Government had dropped contentious "cost neutrality" provisions from its Respect@Work Bill and will refer the matter to the Attorney-General's Department, which will conduct a review.